|
SNHR: An Open Letter to the EU Leaders
Julian Assange to be Questioned by Swedish Prosecutors
by Shelby Vcelka
Impunity Watch Desk Reporter, Europe
LONDON, England–
Ecuador’s foreign minister, Ricardo Patino, has announced that the Swedish government will be allowed to question Wikileaks founder Julian Assange at the Ecuadorian embassy in London. Assange has been living in the embassy seeking refuge since 2012, awaiting extradition to Sweden on rape allegations.
Assange’s extradition to Sweden was allowed in 2012 after a long legal battle he ultimately lost in supreme court. After his bail was set for extradition, Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy out of fear that his extradition back to Sweden would be a pretext for his extradition to America. Both Assange and his supporters believe he could be charged under the U.S. Patriot Act for posting classified documents on the Wikileaks site.
Under Swedish law, Assange cannot be formally charged without an interview taking place. In December 2014, the Swedish Prosecution Authority announced it was making a new request to interview Assange in London. The British government granted the request last June. “When all necessary permits and arrangements are ready, the interview will be performed by the supporting prosecutor to the case, chief prosecutor Ingrid Isgren, together with a police investigator,” the Swedish authority commented.
The Ecuadorian authorities have responded that they are willing to accept Sweden’s petition to question Assange, “as long as the sovereignty of the Ecuadoran state and the laws in the constitution are respected.” Patino requested that the Swedish prosecutors provide their Ecuadorian colleagues with the questions they will be asking Assange, as well as allowing them to place one of their own prosecutors in the room during the interview.
Kristinn Hrafnsson, a spokesperson for Wikileaks, stated that Assange has embraced the “opportunity to deliver his statement to the prosecutor. Julian has been offering his statement to the prosecutor by various means for five years [in total] and for three-and-a-half years since he went into the embassy – whether via videolink or by the prosecutor coming to London. Let’s hope [the interview] can be carried out as soon as possible. Julian is very eager to get his point of view into the investigation.”
For more information, please see–
The Guardian– Julian Assange to be questioned by Swedish prosecutors in London— 15 January 2016
Latino One– Ecuador Announces Cooperation with Swedish Prosecutors in Julian Assange Case— 15 January 2016
Telesur– Ecuador Gives Sweden Green Light for Assange Interrogation— 15 January 2016
South China Morning Post– WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange free to live in Ecuador if cleared of Swedish charges— 16 January 2016
Press Release: US Appeals Court to Hear Emergency Motion on Disqualification of Lawyer John Moscow in the Magnitsky Case in New York
18 January 2016 – The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has agreed to an emergency hearing to be held at 10 am on Friday, 22 January 2016, on an application from Hermitage Capital Management seeking to suspend the case of US vs Prevezon, to hear an appeal which will determine whether lawyers with a serious conflict of interest should be allowed to remain on the case.
Hermitage’s application arises out of U.S. law firm Baker Hostetler and its partner, John Moscow, switching sides in the Russian money laundering case from representing the victim – Hermitage, to representing the beneficiary of the crime – Prevezon Holdings.
Hermitage said in support of its motion for stay in the legal proceeding:
“A stay pending appeal is in the public interest. A lawyer’s obligation to preserve client confidences “touches upon vital concerns of the legal profession and the public’s interest in the scrupulous administration of justice.”
Hermitage’s motion is supported by the US Department of Justice, who said to the Appeals Court that the conduct of Baker Hostetler represents an “unheard of”, “extremely rare” and “egregious” case of conflict of interest given that the law firm not only switched sides but went further by accusing Hermitage, its former client, of the crime of which Hermitage has been the victim.
“The egregious situation seen here, where an attorney for a victim attempts to switch sides to represent a beneficiary of the offense, is extremely rare, and it is unheard of that such attorney would go further and accuse his former client, the victim, of committing the offense. Accordingly, courts have seldom been called upon to rule on such an extreme conflict, often because it is simply not done,” said the US Department of Justice in their affirmation of Hermitage’s motion.
On 18 December 2015, the district court judge Thomas Griesa in the Southern District of New York granted Hermitage’s motion to disqualify Baker Hostetler and John Moscow, finding it would be improper for Baker Hostetler to continue to represent defendants Prevezon Holdings because of Baker Hostetler’s prior representation of Hermitage. However, on 8 January 2016, Judge Griesa reversed his decision ruling that Prevezon’s right to the choice of lawyers was more important than Hermitage’s right to not be betrayed by former counsel.
Prevezon Holdings is owned by the son of a senior Russian government official and, according to the U.S. Department of Justice’s lawsuit, has been involved in laundering proceeds from the US$230 million fraud uncovered by Hermitage’s late lawyer Sergei Magnitsky. The US Department of Justice, having traced proceeds stolen in Russia to Prevezon’s real estate properties in Manhattan, filed a civil lawsuit seeking money laundering fines and forfeiture of US$14 million in Prevezon’s US assets. After the assets were frozen, Prevezon sought the services of John Moscow and Baker Hostetler. In spite of the obvious conflict of interest, John Moscow and Baker Hostetler agreed to represent alleged beneficiaries of the US$230 million crime – ignoring the fact that they had been previously hired by Hermitage to identify and bring to justice perpetrators and beneficiaries of this crime.
On 13 January 2016, Hermitage filed an emergency motion to suspend the proceedings in the asset forfeiture case against Prevezon until the issue of John Moscow and Baker Hostetler’s disqualification is resolved.
In supporting the Hermitage’s motion, the US Department of Justice stated:
“After taking almost $200,000 of Hermitage’s money to attempt to prevent Hermitage from being accused of committing the fraud, [Baker Hostetler’s partner] Moscow is now taking the money of an alleged beneficiary of the very same fraud to himself accuse Hermitage of committing the fraud.”
“Allowing the trial to take place in this fashion, and to expose Hermitage to such irreparable injury at the hands of its former counsel, would be a miscarriage of justice setting a precedent that would severely harm crime victims’ interests and could chill the cooperation of victims with law enforcement,” said the US Justice Department in its filing.
The US$230 fraud and money laundering case was uncovered by Hermitage’s Russian lawyer, Sergei Magnitsky, who was tortured and killed in Russian police custody after he had given testimony implicating Russian government officials in the scheme. To perpetrate the US$230 million fraud, the Russian criminal organisation stole three Russian companies belonging to the Hermitage Fund and then sought an illegal refund of US$230 million of taxes previously paid by those companies.
When Hermitage’s Russian lawyers reported the officials involved, the lawyers themselves became subject of retaliation from Russian authorities. In 2008, Hermitage hired Baker Hostetler’s partner John Moscow to protect Hermitage and its lawyers and executives from the retaliation. Mr. Moscow had previously been a specialist in combating Russian organised crime and corruption in the New York District Attorney’s office. He assisted Hermitage with the identification of the beneficiaries of the US$230 million fraud and liaising with the US law enforcement in bringing those beneficiaries to justice. Several years later the US Department of Justice traced some of the US$230 million proceeds to Manhattan properties owned by Prevezon and filed a lawsuit in which John Moscow and Baker Hostetler appeared for Prevezon.
The hearing will take place in New York in the Thurgood Marshall U.S. Courthouse, 17th floor, Room 1703 later this week, on 22 January 2016.
For more information, please contact:
Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Campaign
+44 207 440 1777
e-mail: info@lawandorderinrussia.org
www.lawandorderinrussia.org
Twitter: @KatieFisher__
Iran Releases Americans in Exchange for the Release of Iranians
TEHRAN, Iran – On Saturday, Iran released four Iranian-Americans from prison in exchange for the release of seven Iranians from the United States prisons. The exchange has eased tensions between the two countries. Three of the four Americans left Tehran to Switzerland, via plane. Once they landed in Switzerland, the Americans left for a United States base in Germany for medical treatment.
President Obama attributed the end to the prisoner dispute to a cultivation of diplomacy. He stated, ” This is a good day because once again we are seeing what’s possible through strong American diplomacy.” A senior United States administration official, speaking anonymously due to the sensitive nature of the exchange stated that Iran, “understood this was a priority for us, and that we’d never give it up.” He continued, “we consistently said it was independent from the nuclear negotiations but of great importance.”
Jason Rezaian, one of the released Americans, had been imprisoned since July 2014 on charges of espionage. Rezaian prior to imprisonment, was the Washington Post bureau chief in Tehran since 2012. Rezaian had been convicted in September, but had never heard anything regarding his punishment.
Washington Post’s publisher, Frederick J. Ryan Jr. stated, ” We couldn’t be happier to hear the news that Jason Rezaian has been released from Evin Prison.”
Saeed Abedini, another one of the released Americans, is a Christian pastor who had been imprisoned since July 2012 for organizing churches in the homes of Iranians. His wife, Naghmeh Abedini, had heard that Mr. Abedini had been moved from prison by Iranian intelligence police and told her children that their dad was coming home.
Amir Hekmati, a former United States Marine, had been imprisoned since his arrest in August 2011 when he was visiting his grandmother. Mr. Hekmati was alleged to be a spy and was imprisoned. Earlier this month, Mr. Hekmati had been permitted to leave prison for treatment of swollen lymph nodes. This had been the indication that Mr. Hekmati was likely to be released.
A fourth prisoner who was released, Nosratollah Khosravi-Roodsari, was not on the plane that left for Switzerland. A United States senior administration official to CNN that, “we can confirm that our detained U.S. citizens have been released and those that wished to depart Iran have left. We have no further information to share at this time and would ask everyone respect the privacy of these individuals and their families.”
The seven Iranian prisoners who were released had been indicted or imprisoned for sanction violations. In addition to the release of the seven Iranian prisoners, the United States rescinded international arrest warrants on 14 Iranians, also suspected of sanction violations.
The exchange also requires Iran to continue to cooperate with the United States’s search for a retired FBI agent, Robert A. Levinson, who has been missing in Iran since 2007. “We are happy for the other families,” stated Levinson’s family, “but once again, Bob Levinson has been left behind. We are devastated.”
A fifth American was also released on Saturday, but was not part of the prisoner exchange. Matthew Trevithick, had been detained for 40 days at Evin Prison, according to his family, after he had gone to Iran for language study in September. Mr. Trevithick’s family says he was a co-founder of a Turkey-based research center, SREO, which focuses on humanitarian issues,
American officials are continuing to work on freeing Siamak Namazi, a business consultant who worked for an oil-company based under the United Arab Emirates who had been detained in mid-October.
For more information, please see:
Associated Press – The Latest: Americans freed by Iran Arrive in Germany – 17 January 2016
BBC News – Jason Rezaian and Three Other US Prisoners Freed in Iran – 17 January 2016
CNN – Americans in Iran Prisons Swap Arrive in Germany – 17 January 2016
Reuters – U.S. Prisoners Leave Iran for U.S Base as Obama Hails Win for Diplomacy – 17 January 2016
The New York Times – Iran frees Americans, Including Jason Rezaian, in Prison Swap – 16 January 2016